HE search on the residence of former National Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) by officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) last Thursday was legal and authorised by law, Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) said yesterday.
Falana, who spoke in a statement in Lagos, said Col. Dasuki breached the law when he refused the DSS officials “free and unhindered access” to his residence for several hours.
He noted that contrary to the misleading information circulated in the media by the former NSA, his house was not illegally raided, but lawfully searched pursuant to a warrant issued by a magistrate.
“The fundamental rights to personal liberty and privacy of the home of every Nigerian citizen are constitutionally guaranteed. As fundamental rights are not absolute, they may be breached in accordance with a procedure permitted by law.
“Hence, by virtue of Section 146 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, the residence of any citizen can be searched with a warrant duly signed by a judge, magistrate or Justice of the Peace. Section 149 thereof imposes a duty on any person residing in any building, which is liable to be searched to allow ‘free and unhindered access to it and afford all reasonable facilities for its search’,” he said.
The erudite lawyer recalled that a team of DSS officials, who were armed with a search warrant, had attempted to execute the warrant on the private home of Col. Dasuki in Abuja.
Falana noted that the former NSA, who was convinced that he did not deserve to have his house searched, refused to allow the security operatives access to his house for several hours.
He added that the search could not be conducted until the armed troops guarding the house were withdrawn by the Army authorities.
Falana noted that in a sharp reaction to Col. Dasuki’s narration of what transpired at his home, the DSS confirmed that the search was conducted in strict compliance with a search warrant duly endorsed by a magistrate.
“To prove that the search was not a witch-hunt, the DSS listed the items recovered from the premises as including seven high-calibre rifles, (high assault weapons), several magazines and military related gears, 12 new vehicles, of which five were bullet-proofs. Since Col. Dasuki is presumed innocent until the contrary is proved, it is not fair to comment on the ‘incriminating items’ found and recovered from his house,” the lawyer said.
Falana maintained that the law required the owner or occupier of any house or apartment to allow a search once a search warrant signed by the appropriate authority was produced by law enforcement personnel.
He added that since the country operates a neo-colonial legal system, which confers special privileges on people of influence, Col. Dasuki was treated with dignity in the circumstance.
“In other words, the DSS personnel would have executed the warrant, rather forcefully, if the search involves the home of an ‘ordinary’ citizen.
“Indeed, the special status extended to members of the ruling class has also been demonstrated in the decision of the DSS to place the retired colonel under ‘house arrest’ in a country where the flotsam and the jetsam are regularly railroaded to jail even when they are not associated with any incriminating evidence,” he noted.
Falana, however, advised the DSS to return the passport of Col. Dasuki to him since it was not authorised by a court of law.
“The DSS ought to be reminded of the case of the Director-General, State Security Service v Olisa Agbakoba (1995) 3 N.W.L.R. (Pt 595) 314, wherein the Supreme Court held that the passport of a Nigerian citizen could not be seized without due process,” he said.
He noted the seizure of the passport of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, now the Emir of Kano, by the DSS under the Goodluck Jonathan Administration, which was declared illegal and unconstitutional by a Federal High Court.
The lawyer added that in addition to the order for the release of the passport, the court awarded N50 million reparation to the then embattled governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
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